If a concert is general admission, the people in front earned their spots. They got there early and laid claim to their space. The people all the way in front might have even spent all day camped out by the doors, so when the lights go off and you shove your way to the front, you're being a huge asshole. Don't do that. If you show up late and there's only room in the back, you've just gotta deal with it.

Your pansy ass wouldn't last 2 minutes at a metal concert. Sorry, no.

I've been to plenty of metal concerts. I have no problem telling people to move the fark up, move the fark back or move over. Most Metal fans are pussies that use the music as a coverup for no self confidence. I prey on their souls.

The Who concert disaster[1] took place at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio on 3 December 1979, as part of the band's U.S. tour, the first in three years and their first performance in Cincinnati since 1975. Eleven fans (Peter Bowes, 18; Teva Ladd, 27; David Heck, 19; Connie Burns, 18; James Warmoth, 21; Bryan Wagner, 17; Karen Morrison, 15; Jacqueline Eckerle, 15; Walter Adams, Jr., 22; Stephan Preston, 19; Phillip Snyder, 20) were killed by compressive asphyxia and 26[citation needed] others injured in the rush for seating at the opening of a sold-out concert.

Attending the performance were a total of 18,348 ticketed fans (3,578 reserved seats, 14,770 general admission seats). The concert was using "festival seating" (also known as "general admission seating"), where the best seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to the festival seating, many fans arrived early. As they waited outside in bitter cold conditions, the crowd heard the band performing a late sound check and thought that the concert was beginning, and a rush into the still-closed doors began. Some at the front of the crowd were trampled as those pushing from behind were unaware that the doors were still closed. Only a few doors were in operation that night, and there are reports that management did not open more doors due to union restrictions and the concern of people sneaking past the ticket turnstiles.[2] The band members only found out about the incident after their performance ended. After the incident, the victims' families sued the band, promoter, and the city until the lawsuit was settled. As a result, festival seating was banned in Cincinnati for 25 years, with minor exceptions.[3][4]

This incident was the subject of a book and of a second season episode of WKRP in Cincinnati called "In Concert" and inspired scenes in the film Pink Floyd-The Wall, whose 1982 premiere was attended by The Who's Pete Townshend.[5]

Already Disturbed:CSB, concert edition. A few weird things I've seen:A guy crowdsurfing in his wheelchair during the Big 4. Literally heavy metal.Two women getting into a fistfight at a Morrissey show.A girl sitting down and crying during Black Mountain.An extremely drunk guy windmill air guitaring and twisting around until Bob Mould called him out from the stage and told him it was time to leave.And most recently, at the Rolling Stones last month, a guy a few seats down from me basically watched the entire show through his iPad screen.

/taking pictures is fine, just stop using a flash and don't put the camera above your head

You inspired me.

CSB, concert edition. A few weird things I've seen:

I see guys in wheelchairs all the time. First time was at a Soundgarden show in 1992, last time was at a Shadows Fall show about a month ago.

A guy in a full leg cast, with crutches, crowdsurfing during Shadows Fall.

Richard Patrick, of Filter, swiping someone's camera, and filming two entire songs from his point of view- himself, the rest of Filter, and the crowd. And then giving it back.

Lamb of God flipping the house circuit not once but three times in the span of 20 minutes. All of a sudden it's black in there, and all you can hear are the drums. Three times.

Some douche in the front of a Rollins Band show kept putting dollar bills in Henry's shorts, stripper style. Rollins kept pushing him away, finally, he switched the mic from one hand to the other, not skipping a beat, and clocked that motherfarker as hard as I've ever seen a guy get hit. He never missed a word while he did it.

A full blown toilet paper war at a Blink 182 show about 100 years ago. Apparently, the TP rolls in the porta potties were very easy to remove, and there were 100's of them flying through the air most of the show. Tom was really upset, he was concerned how people were going to wipe.

The first time I saw the Offspring, also about 100 years ago, they encouraged everyone to pick up all the garbage around them, and THROW IT TOWARDS THE STAGE. It looked like a couple garbage trucks fell from the sky. WTF?

Also 100 years ago, a guy's wallet was thrown on stage at a Green Day show. Billie Joe took all the money in the wallet ($60), rolled it up, and shoved it up his ass. He then took out the license and called the poor guy out, who promptly came up on stage AND REMOVED IT FROM BILLIE JOE'S ASS. WTF?

I don't recall the show, but at some show a few years ago, they thought it was a good idea to give out trial size shampoo bottles AS YOU ENTERED. Needless to say, every single bottle given out ended up on stage.

I saw MXPX, Incubus, Cypress Hill, and Static X at a ski resort once. In winter. Whoever thought that was a good idea obviously didn't expect the bands to have to dodge snowballs for five hours.

puckrock2000:Mooches: Lith: Puke ain't nothing. Try Woodstock 2000 (what a clusterfark of organization that was,) naked chicks walking around covered in what they think is mud but is actually overturned porta-potty ooze, that'll make you think.And more annoying than any picture taking, wooing, non-booby flashing girl is $7 for a small bottle of water, $10 if you want it cold, and $!5 mystery meat taco/gyro/kebab pita thing, I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't iguana or maybe a really meaty rat.

I was at Woodstock 97. The ooze. I'll never forget it.:::managed to stay somewhat ooze free:::

You must have forgotten something, considering there was no "Woodstock 97" concert.

/Woodstock 94//Woodstock 99

I'm not the person who posted that, but from what I have heard there was one every single year for awhile, just not highly publicized except for every few years.

Solid State Vittles:The only thing worse than someone ironically screaming "Freebird!" is when the band actually decides to ironically play it.

I've born witness to multiple bluegrass versions of Freebird as a result of this.

As far as TFL goes, some hits and misses....

3. Incessantly talking to your friends.

Depends on the show, and where you're at. If you're at a small venue, STFU. If you're in the nose bleeds at the Coloseum while DeathRawk McBloodyPants is on stage dodging their fireworks show, well, it's probably OK to chat a bit if you want.

6. Pushing your way to the front.

Fark off, you giant pussy. The people that are at the front are the people that can get there. If you stood in line for seven hours to be on the gate, and can't manage to hold it, then you get what you deserve... Hauled over the gate by security. Being up front at a generall seating show takes skill and strength. It's not for everyone. You especially.

7. Getting so drunk you puke.

This is true of any location.

10. Yelling "Sit down!" at people who are standing up.

Entirely show dependent. Are you at a general seating show in a big arena? Yeah, then STFU. Are you at a small venue where people are actually, you know, seated? Then sit your ass down. I saw Dick Dale in Portland a while back. The venue has a lowered section up front for standers, and a seating section towards the back for drinkers. It is overall a great setup as it meets both needs. But it doesn't work when you are a douche bag and decide to stand right behind the rail of the elevated section, at which point Mr. Grumpy McOnionbelt tells you to sit down you farking moron.

Marshmallow Jones:As mentioned upthread, the farking first verse sing-along followed by 'WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!' makes me want to pull a Carrie on the concert hall.

I am not much of a fan of the band Live, but I recall that their unplugged concert/video thing they did in the mid-90's, was rendered unlistenable by the tools in the audience going WOOOOOO the whole effing time.

I was at a small-ish show a few years ago at a PAC (few hundred people) to see a local guy who was backed by some really talented musicians. Everything was plugged in for most of the show, but at the end the singer stepped to the mic and said 'We want to try something with you, we're all going to turn off, come to the front of the stage and just play acoustic.' Everyone applauded, then they unplugged and the singer started thanking the audience, who nearly all went silent to hear him. Then some ahole near me starts yelling over him 'WE WANT TO THANK YOU TOO DAVE, YOU ARE THE BEST' blah blah blah. All at once everyone around him went ''Hey stupid, shut up for second!!'. The guy looked like 'what? everyone wants to hear what I have to say don't they?' just another ahole who thought the world revolved around him.

I was at Silversun Pickups a couple months ago, at the end of the song the lead singer goes "we hope you're enjoying yourselves" and some guy in the audience goes "YOU farkING ROCK" not missing a beat, the lead singer says "Thanks Dad, means a lot that you still come to all of my shows"

As mentioned upthread, the farking first verse sing-along followed by 'WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!' makes me want to pull a Carrie on the concert hall.

I am not much of a fan of the band Live, but I recall that their unplugged concert/video thing they did in the mid-90's, was rendered unlistenable by the tools in the audience going WOOOOOO the whole effing time.

I was at a small-ish show a few years ago at a PAC (few hundred people) to see a local guy who was backed by some really talented musicians. Everything was plugged in for most of the show, but at the end the singer stepped to the mic and said 'We want to try something with you, we're all going to turn off, come to the front of the stage and just play acoustic.' Everyone applauded, then they unplugged and the singer started thanking the audience, who nearly all went silent to hear him. Then some ahole near me starts yelling over him 'WE WANT TO THANK YOU TOO DAVE, YOU ARE THE BEST' blah blah blah. All at once everyone around him went ''Hey stupid, shut up for second!!'. The guy looked like 'what? everyone wants to hear what I have to say don't they?' just another ahole who thought the world revolved around him.

Cyno01:feanorn: Shouting "Freebird!" isn't always bad. A buddy of mine got a big smile out of Suzanne Vega with it. That was a great show...

Its pissing me off that i cant remember who it was, but i was at a show once and someone yelled "freebird" and the singer was like "What, you think we dont know how to play it?" and then they played the whole damn song... the long version.

Careful what you wish for.

Playing in around Jacksonville, FL (home of Skynyrd) especially in the late 70's/early 80's, the call to play Freebird was ubiquitous (still is; sigh). On one occasion, my new wave/performance art band wound up playing a rather fun, impromptu ska version. It actually works pretty well in that style and takes all the pompous "Southern Man" hubris out of it.

As far as the picture and video takers, TFA has an excellent point. You're not making a band documentary, goddamit, and taking pics and vids on your phone doesn't make you part of the show, so don't act like you are. The pic in the thread of the girls at the concert sums it up well. I think it's a strange part of current social culture that seems to say that "if it's not on my phone and shared with my friends, it didn't happen." Seems to be rather pathetic and sad, to me.

kth:7. Getting so drunk you puke.8. Loudly complaining after the show because the band didn't play your favorite song.

So my sister and I went to see the Old 97's show a few years back. She knows them from early days in Dallas, and I've met them several times. So my beloved sister gets hammered. And starts loudly requesting one of their early, delightfully weird songs during the show. And then during the encore. Then after the show when we're talking to Ken.

/mortified

Last time I saw the Old 97's Rhett started the show by announcing that he would not be playing " Question" so all of the guys could put their engagement rings away. Apparently there were a few guys that planned to propose to that song.

SubBass49:Soulcatcher: My brother was at that concert. I don't care what Wiki says, it happened because they initially only opened ONE door to let the 4000+ people who were waiting outside in (people that got in line early). The crowd surged and people got trampled. My bro (who was 6' and 180 at the time) got lifted off his feet and carried across the floor. He saw people fall but couldn't even move to do anything.

Happened to me at Coachella one year, when Bjork (of all people) performed. I was about 6'1" 190 lbs at the time...lifted right off my feet and carried forward at about a 70 degree angle...was farking terrifying.

I quit going to Coachella partly because it turned into a corporate festival where the celebrities go to be cool and partially because I was just about crushed during Tool's performance. I am 6' 1" and at the time was about 190 and I was trying yo protect the girl I was with that was 5' 2" and 85 lbs. The crowd were absolute assholes I had waited years to see Tool reunite and I ended up leaving because my friend was so scared she was nearly crying and I could barely move and at times couldn't breathe.

The YouTube videos people post are nice for the band and people that work creating the shows. It's pretty rare to be able to see and hear people's reaction to a live event but the videos document audience reaction pretty well. I never realized it was annoying to the spectators.

red5ish:Saw King Crimson at the Greek. This huge shirtless black guy with a super loud beaded gourd percussion instrument wandered around not keeping time to the music. Nobody was going to approach this guy and ask him to stop and he never did.

To be fair, I imagine it can be tough keeping time to songs that start out in 7/8, then switch to 3.5 measures of 11/13 followed by a slow groove in 28/9...

feanorn:Shouting "Freebird!" isn't always bad. A buddy of mine got a big smile out of Suzanne Vega with it. That was a great show...

Its pissing me off that i cant remember who it was, but i was at a show once and someone yelled "freebird" and the singer was like "What, you think we dont know how to play it?" and then they played the whole damn song... the long version.

One time, we had second row seats and the asshole in front of us decided to stand - ON HIS farkING CHAIR. Again, he was first row, no one was in front of him, and he felt the need to stand on his chair. My buddy's wife pushed him off.

Another concert, a guy next to me in the orchestra pit kept yelling, "I LOVE YOU BONITA" to Bonnie Raitt, then later yelled for Jimmie Vaughan (who was playing with The Thunderbirds), "PLAY VOODOO CHILD." Yeah, ask someone to play the song HIS BROTHER is known for, like that's not a slap in the face. I feel like he achieved maximum douche.

At an oldies concert, I almost got into a fight with some obnoxious drunken guy who wouldn't shut up during Mary Wilson's performance about how Diana Ross was the better Supreme. I was close to fighting this seven-foot giant over who was the better singer in a 60's girl group - quite possibly the most surreal thing that's happened to me.Concerts are like a box of choc-o-lates.

the last concert i went to was toadies...at billy bob's in the ft worth stockyards...sort of surreal to see a 90s hard rock band in there with all the tables & chairs removed from the floor. all the typical douchebag concert stereotypes were there, but it did not stop me from enjoying the 3-people-from-the-stage spot i laid claim to earlier in the evening.

the last concert i went to prior to that was much better crowd-wise. crosby stills & nash. front row seats i won from the radio station. took my dad as a belated birthday gift. what a show!

Mother farking damn for the love of heaven bullshiat, can you people just go to an event and try to enjoy it together without ruining things for others? I thought going to the movies was a hassle sometimes. I can't imagine paying so much money for a concert ticket just to have someone act like a jerk.

If a concert is general admission, the people in front earned their spots. They got there early and laid claim to their space. The people all the way in front might have even spent all day camped out by the doors, so when the lights go off and you shove your way to the front, you're being a huge asshole. Don't do that. If you show up late and there's only room in the back, you've just gotta deal with it.

Ah, vomit. I saw Queen in '82 at the L.A. Forum, sat a million miles away. Four guys showed up late, missed the opener completely (Billy Squier), and stumbled to their seats right in front of us, reeking of booze. One dude passed out right away. It was one of the loudest shows I've ever seen, and he's sleeping it off. About 15 minutes later, he stirs, leans forward, drops his head between his legs, and pukes. They eventually left, nobody came along to clean it up, and we had to deal with the aromatic aftermath the rest of the show.

I like the guy that gets right in front of the plentiful space right in front of you and then very slowly inches backwards. I don't mind someone standing in front of me since I can see over most people, but goddamit stay there.